85 Sunny Mango Cheesecake

Nothing more summery than a ripe, sweet mango. I remember two years ago, when I travelled to India, it was my first time ever to try raw mangoes. I stayed with my friend Ankita in her family home in Kolkata; on one evening she asked me if I wanted some fresh mango. I have to admit, I wasn’t convinced. In our climate, where I come from, it’s impossible to grow mangoes. That’s why I grew up knowing only artificial mango flavour. Now, the times has changed, and it is possible to buy fresh mango in any supermarket in Poland (not to mention in England).
But that time in India, was the very first time I have ever tried fresh mango and it was so far the best mango I have ever had. Or was it a charm of a first-time?
Mango cheesecake seemed like a perfect idea for a sunny summer afternoon. It does require some work but hey, who doesn’t like a challenge? ^^ It turned out quite lovely. Crushed shortbreads on the bottom, baked cheesecake, light and fluffy mango mousse and mango jelly on top. Heaven!
Let’s give it a go, shall we?

HOW TO MAKE?1. Start with preheating the oven to 180 degree Celsius, then grease a round baking tin with butter and line the bottom of the tin with baking parchment. Place the shortbreads in a thick and strong plastic bag and hit them with a rolling pin or meat hammer until crushed. Move the crushed biscuits to a bowl and add melted butter. Mix together until you’ll get a consistency of wet sand.
2. Move the shortbread and butter mix to the prepared tin and even it out. Place in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes. After that time, take the form out and let it cool.
3. Prepare the cheese layer. All the ingredients for a cheese mix should be at room temperature. Start with mincing the curd cheese. In order for the cheesecake to be extra smooth, curd cheese need to be minced in a meat mincer at least twice. After that’s done, place all the ingredients for the cheese mixture in a big bowl and mix them with an electric mixer until combined. Don’t overdo it, we don’t need extra air bubbles in our mix (that will cause our cheesecake to raise significantly while baking and then flattening quickly, after taking it out of the oven).
4. Add the cheese mix onto the previously baked base and even out with a spatula. Bake for about 45-50 minutes in 160 degrees. Before taking the cheesecake out from the oven, make sure to check that it’s baked with a wooden skewer. If it comes out clean, you’re fine. If not, prolong the baking time for another 10-15 minutes.
5. Take the cheesecake out of the oven and let it cool completely.
6. When the cheesecake is almost cold, you can start preparing the mango mousse. Start with making a mango puree. Keep in mind that you need 600g of the puree for the mousse and 300g puree for the jelly. To save yourself washing up and cleaning twice, I would advice making all the puree at once. Peel the mango and cut in pieces. Throw all the pieces to your blender and blend until smooth. Make sure to weigh the mangoes, you should get exact amount for the mousse and the jelly.
7. Pour 300g of the puree out and save it for later (preferably in the fridge). Add the rest of the puree to a small saucepan, together with sugar and lemon juice and bring it to a boil. When the mango puree is being cooked, prepare your agar powder. In order for the agar powder to have its jellying power, it needs to be mixed with water and boiled. Add the powder into a small bowl, add enough water to mix it and bring it to a boil (I done it in a microwave).
8. When the mango puree is boiling and agar powder is ready, move the mango puree to a bowl, add the agar powder and straight away mix it with your electric mixer. It’s important to mix the agar powder with boiling hot mango. Be quick, the mixture will start settling quickly. Set aside, trying to mix it often. We need our mango puree to be at room temperature: cold enough to make it possible to mix it with whipped double cream without it curdling but not too cold so it starts settling.
9. While the mango mixture is cooling down, whip the chilled double cream until fairly firm but still fluffy. Add cooled mango mixture to whipped cream, in three additions, mixing thoroughly after each addition with your electric mixer. Make sure the mango mixture is not warm, it will cause the mixture to curdle!
10. Move the mango mousse to the tin with baked cheesecake. Again, make sure that the cheesecake is completely chilled. Even out the surface of the mango mousse with a spatula and put it in the fridge, allowing it to settle.
11. When the mango mousse has settled in the fridge, start preparing the mango jelly, our last layer. Use saved 300g of the mango puree. Again, place mango puree in a small saucepan, add sugar and fresh lemon juice, bring it to a boil. Mix agar powder with water and bring it to a boil in the microwave. When mango puree has boiled and the agar powder is ready to use, mix them both together with an electric mixer, while the mango is still hot.
12. When mixed, cool the jelly down a bit and when at room temperature, pour it on the cheesecake, creating the last layer. Even out with a spatula and place the whole cake in the fridge to settle. Best to keep the cheesecake in the fridge overnight or at least for 3-4 hours.
13. After that time, take the cake out of the tin and decorate, it will look beautiful no matter what you use to make it prettier. Invite friends round to share this beautiful, light, summery cake.